Column: More steps needed to boost workplace productivity

A lot has been said about the need to increase productivity in New Zealand workplaces.  What we need to see more of is steps to achieve this, and so I was pleased last week to attend the launch of an initiative by two unions who are set about doing just this.

~~~~~~~ 

Dompost Business Column
By Helen Kelly, president, Council of Trade Unions
Published Monday 30 June 2008

A lot has been said about the need to increase productivity in New Zealand workplaces.  What we need to see more of is steps to achieve this, and so I was pleased last week to attend the launch of an initiative by two unions who are set about doing just this.

Productivity has at times been a dirty word for workers, particularly when it was used in the 1990's as an excuse to make cuts in terms and conditions.

However, in recent years, a more progressive approach to industrial relations has meant the CTU could work with Business NZ and the Government on a number of initiatives that focus on a positive model of workplace productivity.

The benefits of improved productivity must be shared, and from a union perspective, the productivity debate and the wages debate are closely linked.

Unions have a three step agenda to lift wages in New Zealand, to start to close the wage gap with Australia.  We want to see the minimum wage lifted to $15 an hour, and going forward set at two thirds of the average wage, as the 1972 Royal Commission on Social Security recommended.

We also want to strengthen the rights for workers to be covered by industry and multi-employer collective agreements, to address wages on an industry basis.  We think this will benefit firms also who should compete on the quality of their products, not on low wages, and having industry standard agreements will discourage a ‘race to the bottom’ on wages.

But we realise that to lift wages we need a third aspect, which is a modernisation of the workforce, through ongoing investment in skills, technology and infrastructure alongside improved workplace practices.

And this is where unions enter the productivity debate. 

International research shows that there is a strong association between increased productivity and the involvement of workers and their unions in their workplaces.

Workers have plenty to contribute to this discussion.  If workers are really engaged in the workplace then high performance is more likely.

So unions are working hard with workers at an organisation and industry level to unleash their ideas for initiatives that can enhance productivity and add value.

Lifting productivity involves higher levels of investment in skills, but also improvements in work organisation and workplace culture.

And we also need to see greater investment in capital by employers.  30 years ago, New Zealand and Australian workers had about the same amount of capital per hour worked. But Treasury research shows that by 2002, capital intensity in Australia was over 50 percent greater than in New Zealand. 

The event I attended last week was the launch of a Centre for High Performance Work, an initiative of the Dairy Workers Union and the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union.

The Centre aims to work with New Zealand businesses to develop work practices leading to increased productivity and business growth by integrating workers’ shop-floor knowledge into day-to-day production decisions. 

Its establishment has been supported by employers, and a number of employers are serving on the Centre’s advisory board.

And for our part the CTU has been running an education programme since 2006, which provides opportunities for workers to engage in discussion and education on productivity, addressing both the risks and benefits.

I welcome this new Centre for High Performance Work. It is another step which shows that unions are serious about building high performance workplaces that will benefit workers.

Unions do not underestimate the challenges of union engagement on productivity initiatives.

But it is a challenge we must accept. Economic transformation for us is about building the high wage, high skill and high value economy.

This new centre initiated by the unions with employer support is part of the drive to lift performance in a way that can benefit not just the employer – but the workers and the economy as a whole.

Ends. For more information on the CTU's views on the workplace of the future, read our October 2007 publication Te Huarahi mo nga Kaimahi - click here.